United States 
 

February 2010 

Laurel A. Christensen, Ph.D.

 



Have your patients ever lamented the unnaturalness of the sound of their hearing instruments? Part of what contributes to a sense of natural sound is the ability to orient oneself in the barrage of environmental sounds and to construct an auditory scene from this information. Spatial hearing and localization are key to this ability. Among the many advantages of the remote microphone (RM) concept by ReSound Live are enhanced localization ability and spatial awareness due to conservation of the natural resonances of the human ear through utilization of the pinna effect. Research conducted on RM devices has served to legitimize the concept and validate these benefits.

An independent external study conducted in Leuven, Belgium investigated spatial awareness and localization using ReSound RM hearing instruments. Localization ability for left/right, up/down, and front/back localization tasks were compared for RM hearing instruments and a competitor BTE that utilizes ear-to-ear technology (Van den Bogaert et al, 2008). While no significant differences were found for left/right and up/down localization ability, remote microphone placement resulted in significantly fewer front/back confusions than the ear-to-ear BTE hearing instrument with a directional scene that purportedly restores front-biased directionality.

 



Objective data was also collected on a CORTEX manikin to determine any preservations of the pinna effect with RM hearing instruments. Results showed that RM hearing instruments contribute significantly to the preservation of auditory cues. Results for remote microphone placement allow for energy differences that are similar to the CORTEX manikin with an open ear, indicating that the remote microphone position is effective at preserving the pinna effect. In contrast, results for the tested ear-to-ear BTE were dissimilar to both the CORTEX manikin with an open ear canal and the remote microphone device. These results indicate that the BTE hearing instrument measured is not effectively replicating the pinna effect.

To learn more about evidence for the benefit of remote microphone technology and the ReSound Live hearing instruments, click here.